an unholy mix

Technology and literature – the two have become closer and closer acquaintances through the use of apps and e-books. However, that’s not what I’m really talking about here today. I want to focus my attention upon the use of technology within novels. Much like before the release of BBC’s ‘Sherlock’, I feel like we’re stuck the literary equivalent of awkward cuts to phone screens or weird voice-overs. Many recent novels use texts and emails – two that spring to mind are ’50 Shades of Grey’, and Jonathan Franzen’s ‘Purity’. However, no matter how high-quality the novel and how good the author, I think it is a struggle to use them well.

I don’t know, but to me this is such a static way of reading such an interactive form of communication. It’s different to using letters in a novel, I think, because there’s (usually) less of a waiting period – it’s fast, it’s modern, and I want it done properly, dammit!

I think that we need to look less formal ways of reading in order to solve this problem. Early 2015 there was quite an experimental Sherlock fan fiction (yes, yes, I know, bear with me) that was purely made up of emails and texts. It updated in real-time, so subscribers to the story could be inundated with a flurry of emails one day, and only receive one the next should the characters be busy. Although it is perfectly readable now that the real-time updates are over, many subscribers to the story said it kept them on tenterhooks for days at a time, as they, just like the characters, waited for the next message.

I think that it could be an interesting experiment for those reading e-books in particular. Hook up your email or phone to the e-book, and once you reach an exchange of messages, opt whether to receive them in real-time or not. I think that could vastly increase the appeal of e-books to those of us who are still clinging onto our little paper darlings, and create another marriage opportunity for literature and technology.